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private clubs charging dues for closed course ?

Ockham said:
FIFY.


Again, JMHO.

I love golf. Enough to pay fees so I can play year round and I'm disappointed that I can't play right now. Boy that sucks.

But I wouldn't dare mention that to any Nurses or ER Docs that I know...or any wait staff, or hourly retail workers, or restaurant owners, police officers, nursing home custodians, unemployed golf course maintenance workers...

Lots of folks are getting a raw deal right now. If my biggest complaint is a closed golf course...I think I'll suck it up, and look around.
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You are 100% correct that there is absolutely no comparison to what others are going through - as is the case with most 1st world problems as they relate to just about every other tragedy throughout the world. But I don't know that anyone here is putting it anywhere near that context. I think most are just stating their opinions as asked in the OP. For me, any discussion about golf right now is kind of a diversion from all the other (important) **** I normally worry about.

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My situation is much different as I'm not a member at an exclusive private club. The course is privately owned but they'll let any riff-raff join. For me, the issue is much less about not playing golf and more about budgeting money. If the modest membership fees go towards keeping the resort's workers employed, that's normally an easy decision. If not, I'd have to wonder what's the point.
 
I belong to a public club and pay yearly membership. My membership will be extended for the period of time the course is closed so not losing anything except playing golf right now.
 
So, I guess the key question is what do you expect your club to be like when the club is able to reopen? When a course closes it only takes a few weeks for it to become a field, unrecognizable that it was ever a golf course. I've seen it happen. Do you value the staff? If they are laid off, you're likely to see a lot of new faces, trainees, and unfilled positions for awhile. The chefs will likely be different as will the food, if not the menu.
 
DG_1234 said:
Here in the SF Bay Area most all the private country clubs are closed, but members are obligated to continue paying their monthly dues. Club managers are maintaining that they have an obligation to keep paying the employee payroll and other related expenses of the club, but some members are upset about having to pay for services and facilities they can't use.
Your thoughts on what's the most fair and reasonable policy for this situation ?
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I’m still paying for a kid’s private school even though school isn’t in session. I think it’s an unfortunate necessity. If we want the facility - school or private club - to be available to us when this is over then we need to keep paying now.
 
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At this time of year if you close the course due to government guidelines and do not charge dues, the course will not be maintained and you will have no course to return too. Either pay the dues, quit being a member, or get a huge assessment on the backend of this to get the course playable again because they had to leave it set during spring for 2-3 months and it grew wild.
 
Mine is closed and still charging. They went through a very sticky financial period last year which is why I'm happy to keep paying, if all the members suddenly pulled their memberships then the club would fold. I'd imagine they are already losing untold revenue from the catering, bar and pro-shop so for the time being I'm happy to pay. If it rolls over into too many months though I'll probably revisit.
 
I wouldn’t expect a private course to suspend or refund any monthly dues. Our club is waiving the monthly food minimum for March and April and that seems more than fair to me. We haven’t been open since late October and have plans to open April 11th which is just a week later than normal. Last year with a late spring we didn’t open until April 19th.
 
Many of the clubs around here are owned by the members. The club I used to be at was that way. If the members don't pay dues when the club is shut down for the Corona then the club will go bankrupt and no club. Frankly non-member owned clubs will face the same challenge. I would expect that minimums in the restaurant would be suspended but you need to pay enough dues to keep the club viable. In addition at private clubs in MA that are closed the ones I know of the maintenance staff is still working. If you don't maintain the course for two or more weeks you risk losing the course. That costs money as well. Finally if you pay your dues hopefully the club can continue to pay the hourly workers that aren't able to work.
 
Unless you can stop the grass growing, it is difficult to understand why members should stop paying. It does not take long, months, for a top condition course to become unplayable if the green staff are at home. Our green staff are doing all those jobs, seeding, feeding and weeding, that they can not do while the members are playing. When we go back, the course should be in prime condition and my money will be well spent.

Ironically, I joined a new club effective from April 1st, paying my dues for the year and joining fee last week. Two days later, I got the email saying the course was closed.....:mad:. The membership manager rang me to say my twelve months would start when the club reopened, which seems fair.
 
wubears71 said:
At our club we are closed and we are paying dues. but we’ve furloughed 90% of the staff. We plan on eliminating the food and beverage minimum followed by the capital fee And then, reduce dues to the point that it just covers the minimum overhead left.
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Seems like a reasonable and prudent way to do it.

The other thing that I’d take into account would be that while folks were planning on paying that money anyways, lots of them have less money coming in right now due to not being able to work.

But it sounds like your club is doing it the right way.
 
tequila4kapp said:
I’m still paying for a kid’s private school even though school isn’t in session. I think it’s an unfortunate necessity. If we want the facility - school of private club - to be available to us when this is over then we need to keep paying now.
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Yep, we are still paying private tuition for two colleges and my daughter’s high school. I would not expect a refund from my Country Club or any of these private schools other than for food minimums and room and board which all of them have done. First world problems of the easiest kind.
 
My youngest is in private college and the college reimbursed us for unused room and board. The club we belong to is open, though strictly , with no guests and dining rooms closed except for curbside pickup. Club also has a travel ban in place as well.
 
Considering how many country clubs are going bankrupt and what that does to your community and your property values, I’d probably just roll with it and be grateful for having a club to go back to. I can understand people being bent out of shape about though.
 
What really sucks IMO is the impact on the staff. I belong to a private and they are doing everything they can to keep the staff employed. Unfortunately, with no restaurant, bar etc, many of the service people simply don’t have anything to do. They put them to work for a week or so helping on the range and other places but this week it was much quieter. I am happy at this point to continue to pay full price and would consider paying a bit more to keep the whole team employed. It can be really tough to try to weather a time like this when an already low paying job just goes away, and the rest of the service industry is in its heels.
 
Supersport said:
What really sucks IMO is the impact on the staff. I belong to a private and they are doing everything they can to keep the staff employed. Unfortunately, with no restaurant, bar etc, many of the service people simply don’t have anything to do. They put them to work for a week or so helping on the range and other places but this week it was much quieter. I am happy at this point to continue to pay full price and would consider paying a bit more to keep the whole team employed. It can be really tough to try to weather a time like this when an already low paying job just goes away, and the rest of the service industry is in its heels.
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Proprietary membership private club ?
 
ApexFan said:
The odd thing is Ive heard there are at least 5 courses still open in Sacramento.
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yeah, I think we only have one open that's within an hour...that's where we plan to be tomorrow 😑
 
I only pay the twilight special membership so i'm not really put out about it but I can see if people are having a hard time with the impacts on jobs, it's inconvenient at best...
 
Smiter said:
Seems like a reasonable and prudent way to do it.

The other thing that I’d take into account would be that while folks were planning on paying that money anyways, lots of them have less money coming in right now due to not being able to work.

But it sounds like your club is doing it the right way.
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We should have our operating numbers figured out this week using several scenarios. Once we get that resolved we will start putting dues reductions into action. We also increased our line of credit and cancelled/held all capital projects.
 
We're still paying our dues, but we get a matching credit each month (Example: Dues $400 / Credit $400) until everything is "back to normal" meaning when the clubhouse/restaurant are open business as usual. Those credited dues can be uses towards future food/beverage expenses, guest greens fees, cart fees. The credited dues also will expire 6 months after the "back to normal" date.
 
TM_Bobby723 said:
We're still paying our dues, but we get a matching credit each month (Example: Dues $400 / Credit $400) until everything is "back to normal" meaning when the clubhouse/restaurant are open business as usual. Those credited dues can be uses towards future food/beverage expenses, guest greens fees, cart fees. The credited dues also will expire 6 months after the "back to normal" date.
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If this thing goes for 4 months, guess you will be bringing a lot of guests for 18, and lunch after!
Need a new friend?
 
I see both sides but would be extremely frustrated if I was paying dues and there was no benefit..
 
Our course is not closed at this time. I talked it over with my wife and if they do close and expect members to continuing to pay dues she says she does not mind and I do not either. I would rather pay the dues and have the course ready when it reopens instead of a course in terrible condition that will take a month to bring back to what should be ideal conditions. Many of the people who work at the course are good people and deserve to have weekly salary if the course closes. I would hate to see them leave to search for another job.
 
JB said:
No different than areas in which golf is seasonal and dues are paid year round.
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Bingo. My feeling is that if you can afford the membership and monthly dues at a private club, then you can probably afford the monthly dues for the couple of months it is closed for this craziness.
 
PKorf said:
Bingo. My feeling is that if you can afford the membership and monthly dues at a private club, then you can probably afford the monthly dues for the couple of months it is closed for this craziness.
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I think the argument isn't whether you can afford it (and I cringe at telling someone that they have enough money so they shouldn't complain). You are paying for a service that is now not available. I think the club should do something for the members to make it right. If the club thinks all their staff should still get paid then they can pay them out of their own profit and not make the decision for the members. They are choosing to spend the member's money to take care of the staff without absorbing any of the hardship themselves. Seems unfair
 
93civiccpe said:
I think the argument isn't whether you can afford it (and I cringe at telling someone that they have enough money so they shouldn't complain). You are paying for a service that is now not available. I think the club should do something for the members to make it right. If the club thinks all their staff should still get paid then they can pay them out of their own profit and not make the decision for the members. They are choosing to spend the member's money to take care of the staff without absorbing any of the hardship themselves. Seems unfair
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Curious here. If weather comes through (not seasonal) and wipes the ability to use for several weeks should members not have to pay?

View it like this. Hurricane heads towards Carolinas and for safety area shuts down things for several weeks (obviously happens), what should be done and how is this different?
 
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